Category: Gratuitous Gun Pics

…at Collectors Firearms, rifles:

 

…and Colt revolvers:

Yeah, they’re spendy… but classics, ergo deservedly so.

As for Steve Barnett:

…and:

Now… where did I put that winning lottery ticket?

Before I talk about the gun, I want to talk a little about something that was once the only option, then fell by the wayside, and now is practiced by only a few hardy people:  hunting with a single-shot rifle.

To see that this type of hunting has not disappeared altogether, one only has to see the perpetual fascination for single-shot rifles in sales of guns such as the Ruger #1 (with its derivation of the Farquharson action), and the Winchester / Browning 1885 High Wall (with its “falling block” action).

I cannot describe the satisfaction one gets in working these exquisite actions.  Mr. Free Market, after our most recent Schutzenfest, confessed to me that of all the dozen-odd different rifles he fired, the one that gave him the most shooting satisfaction was my 1885 High Wall in .45-70 Govt.  Yeah, that one-at-a-time thing feels so cumbersome compared to the slick semi-auto and even bolt-action rifles of today — but there it is:  a single rifle is the bee’s knees, and certainly if that’s what you’ve just used to fell a deer, buffalo or bear, your chest swells with pride — and so it should.

So with that said, allow me to present to you the venerable BSA-Martini Cadet rifle:

This is hardly an unknown gun:  the old BSA has been used as a training rifle since the Stone Age, and is most commonly found in .22 caliber.  (It’s what we used back at St. John’s College for our musketry classes, and was capable of astounding accuracy — far more than I for one could achieve.)

The BSA Martinis were also chambered for the silly .310 Greener (“Rook”) cartridge, which is a decent training caliber, but useful for nothing else except hunting rooks.  Luckily, a large percentage of these rifles have been rechambered for other .30 cartridges such as the .32-20 and even the .357 Mag.  The action handles the heavier loads with ease, and the rifle’s lighter weight makes carrying in the field less problematic than with its heavier cousins.

Which brings us to today’s rifle, which is chambered for the wonderful and very much underappreciated cartridge, the Winchester .32 Special.  Most often compared to the .30-30 (.30 WCF), the .32 Win Spec is perhaps best described as the .30-30 on steroids.  One acquaintance told me of a black bear taken with a single shot in Pennsylvania, fired out of a Marlin 94 lever action with a 20″ barrel.

Now take that same bullet and fire it through the BSA-Martini’s 28″ heavy barrel… and I think you can all see where I’m going with this one.

Just practice, and get really good — because you only get one shot.

Of course, the idea of an old Model 99 selling for well north of six grand is preposterous… until you see this one:

I mean, seriously?

 

I know, the silly price really reflects the added cost of the engraving (none of your laser-cut nonsense here), and as far as I’m concerned, transforming this lovely old rifle into a work of art is a Good Thing, akin to any similar improvement made to a decent old shotgun, for instance.

The only iffy thing about this rig is the scope, which I’d replace with something more fitting, such as this Leica.

On to practical matters.  First, the chambering.  I’ve owned and/or shot many Savage 99s, in the above .250 Savage (a.k.a. the .250-3000), in .243 Win, in .300 Savage and in .308 Win.

The .308 was a brute, and hurt my shoulder like hell (Savage 99s have a very slender buttstock) and ditto the .300 Savage, albeit to a lesser degree.  The .243 Win was nice, but of all of them, the .250 Savage was an absolute joy to shoot, and it’s the only chambering I’d consider now.  It’s also fast, deadly and wonderfully accurate.

Secondly, the full (Mannlicher) stock.  Savage barrels are not heavy, to put it mildly;  the Model 99 was designed as a light carry gun, to be used when there were miles of stalking involved in the hunt, or where portability was at a premium, e.g. in hilly- or densely-forested terrain.  So after a few shots — maybe a magazine load or so — the “soda-straw” barrel tends to start whipping around from the heat.  While the full stock would not help the barrel to cool down (the opposite, in fact), I can’t help but think that the wood could also brace the barrel as it heated up.

None of which is important, really.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Mannlicher stock on a Model 99, and I’ve certainly never seen one so beautifully engraved.

Want.